Alternate Reality: Haunted
by Celeste5502
Summary: The six heroes have flown over to England to help a girl with paranormal interests investigate a haunted house and discover that one of them may have abilities which could free the spirits from their binding to the place.
1. Prologue: Papers of the Past

Prologue: Papers of the Past

_Two hundred years ago, somewhere in the English countryside…_

Dear Diary,

Only recently have we completed our move to our new, recently finished Marsden Manor. Father says that the move was only so that we could live in a much more peaceful place in the countryside rather than in the terribly noisy town, but he cannot fool me so easily. I know he wanted our place to be closer to that of the wealthy Edward Carrington, for he wants the two of us to come together in a proper marriage.

Proper! Perhaps in Father's opinion a proper marriage consists of two people of similar social standing, but my own thoughts believe that a marriage to any other man would be much more proper and tolerable than a marriage to that pig-headed fool! He is _the_ absolute last man whom I could ever want to marry, and if my Father thinks otherwise, then the poor man must have lost his sanity.

Oh, dear, I have just seen the carriage of Edward Carrington come to the front of our house. He must have come to give us a greeting, acting as the ever so charming young man that he pretends to be. Father will force me to come downstairs and greet him once he comes inside, so I must go now and abide by his wishes. Pray, Diary, that I will be able to speak with Edward while being able to maintain a non-tormented countenance.

Yours truly,

Scarlett

* * *

_Later that night…_

Dear Diary,

My hatred of that insufferable Edward shall not fade! Tonight I overheard him speaking to Father and he distinctly referred to me as "a handsome young woman, but a bit too headstrong and in need of a man that could tame the wildness within her". He speaks of me as though I were some animal! And Father does nothing about it because he's just too enthralled by Edward's implication that he would like to marry me! I would rather be transformed into a hideous old crone! What a miserable night!

There was one part of it that I rather enjoyed, however. Edward brought over one of his servants, a young man named William, to act as an assistant for both him and us and, I surmise, reveal how rich Edward is in a most pompous manner. When he was alone with me and my sister Violet, I was complaining to her about how Edward was such a blithering fool, and he suddenly chimed in that he was in complete agreement. At first he was a bit embarrassed and his countenance took on a rather amusing red shade, but we allowed him to join our conversation and he turned out to be an amiable, charming young man, absolutely nothing like the brute whom he works for. He's an artist, actually, and before the two left, he gave me an incredible sketch of myself and signed it, _For a handsome young woman who __deserves far better than Carrington._ It was a sweet gesture on his part. I would be rather delighted if I never had the supposed honor to see Edward again, but if seeing him means also seeing William once more, then perhaps I could tolerate it for the moment.

Scarlett

* * *

_Two days later…_

Dear Diary,

Oh, Diary, William has just done something so daring and yet so romantic! I received a letter from the post today which had apparently been sent from the Carrington house, and originally I had supposed it was from that fool Edward, but it was actually from William! He wrote that he had to contact me in a manner similar to Edward's ways for what he had to say needed to be secret. He said that the night we had met, he had found me to be a charming, handsome young woman, and despite what Edward had said, he enjoyed that I was "rather headstrong" and not as submissive as other ladies whom Edward had courted. He concluded that he would like for us to remain in secret correspondence if I was willing. There was a sketch placed into the envelope as well, and it was of a most beautiful red rose, more perfect than any that one could pick from a garden!

I think I shall remain in correspondence. I know what Father would think of such an action, but I do not care; I rather like William, even if he is a mere servant, and I am certain that I want to maintain some sort relationship with him. I must write him right now, actually, and let him know that I'd enjoy staying in touch. Farewell for now, Diary.

Scarlett

* * *

_Two weeks later…_

Diary, MAY EDWARD BURN! I just received a letter which looked similar to Williams' past letters, but it was from Edward instead. He said that William would no longer be employed in his household and that I could cease and desist of keeping up correspondence with him immediately. He then added that unless I consented to being his companion at the masquerade Father is hosting tonight, he would show all of our letters to him and reveal how I had the audacity to maintain contact with such a person of low standing!

At this moment, Diary, I find Edward to be a man of by far lower standing than William. William is so charming and caring and…I must confess, Diary, I love him. I will miss him so…

The first guests have just arrived. I must go down and greet them. I will write once more tomorrow, Diary.

Scarlett

* * *

_A few minutes later…_

I know what I wrote before, Diary, but I absolutely must write about what has just happened! William has just come to the party! He's wearing exceptionally wealthy clothing and quite a dark mask, but I'd recognize his blue eyes no matter what they were hiding underneath! When he entered he secretly handed me a note which said he would like to meet me later in the parlor! Perhaps he wants to declare his love for me! I shall go, of course! This is so exciting! I promise to write about what happened tomorrow, Diary! Farewell!

* * *

_The next day, in one of the local newspapers…_

**Tragedy at Marsden Manor**

Last night, the masquerade hosted by Lord Arthur Marsden was to be a festive and joyful occasion which only the most elite would be able to enjoy. Instead, it became a night of horror and disbelief.

Lord Marsden's eldest daughter Scarlett was discovered by her father and others at the masquerade dead in the parlor room, a wine glass clutched in her hand. A former servant of the nearby Edward Carrington was kneeling down beside her with an empty vial that formerly contained poison clutched in his hand. When Edward revealed to Lord Marsden that the servant and Scarlett had been having a romantic affair behind his back which he had just put an end to that morning, Lord Marsden came to the conclusion that the servant had killed Scarlett by placing poison into her glass for if he could not have her, then no one would.

In his anger for his former servant having killed the woman whom he had been courting as well, Mr. Carrington stabbed the young man to death. He has been taken into custody as of this morning, but considering his riches and that the servant would likely have been put to death for his murder of Scarlett, it is doubtful that he will remain there for much longer.

* * *

_Only one year ago…_

Dear Diary,

It's rather late, I know, but I absolutely must write down what has just happened! I cannot allow myself any opportunity to forget a single detail.

Last night, my friend and I went down to that old, abandoned manor formerly known as Marsden Manor far off in the woods. You see, almost two hundred years ago there was supposedly this one wealthy girl who lived in the place that was murdered by a servant she'd been having an affair with but was forbidden from seeing. The servant supposedly killed her so that no one else could have her, and then in retaliation, this one other man who had been courting the girl killed him and got away with it since he was rich and powerful. Now every year, on the night of their death, supposedly the girl and the servant come back to the manor and haunt it, for the souls are bound to the place due to the way they died.

Well, diary, you know me and my interest in the supernatural-since last night was the night that they supposedly were killed, I just had to go and check out the place! But I was a little hesitant to do so alone, so I asked if my friend would come along. He was a bit freaked out by the idea of spirits, but he consented to accompany me anyway.

So the two of us went. It wasn't that easy to find the place, but somehow we finally managed to stumble upon it. The manor _looked_ like it'd be haunted, what with it having been abandoned for eons and now being old and grey with broken windows and shingles falling off the roof.

We were about to enter the place when suddenly, in one of the upstairs windows, we caught a glimpse of a flicker of light. It was a little creepy, but we just convinced ourselves that other people must have been exploring the house too.

When we walked up to the house, we were about to push the door open when it suddenly creaked open on its own. Again, we received a case of the heebie-jeebies, but we once more brushed it off by telling ourselves that the wind must have blown the door open.

Upon entering, we discovered the inside of the house was as forlorn as the outside. The furniture was covered in faded white sheets, cobwebs were strung along the banister of a stairway, and dust covered the entirety of the floors.

We were about to check out the upstairs when we suddenly heard the sound of violins playing resound all throughout the house, as though some old party was going on. Again, we brushed it off and told ourselves some prankster was probably trying to scare others who came to explore the place.

As we started up the stairway, however, we suddenly saw somebody appear at the top of it. I say 'appear' because that's exactly what happened-one moment there was nobody, the next there was somebody.

The person was a girl with curly chestnut brown hair wrapped up in a bun wearing a flowing, light-blue gown which was not of this time and a blue mask over her face. She would not have been so scary if it weren't for two things.

We could almost see right through her.

And she was floating.

We didn't even try to dismiss it. We just turned and ran out of the house, and we didn't stop running until we were out of those woods.

Once we finally stopped and caught our breath, he asked me, "What was that?"

"I don't know," I replied. I looked up and saw that the sun was slowly rising on the horizon, turning the sky from midnight blue to violet and pink. "Next year, however, we must go back and find out."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "We must?" he cried out. He was so scared that I would have thought the sight of whomever that girl was had made his hair turn white if I didn't know it was already that way.

I nodded. "Absolutely. If this is a place where we could see a true spirit, then we _have _to check it out once more!"

He looked down at the ground. "I don't know…" he murmured.

"Dear me, are you really that scared?" I sighed. I thought for a moment, then finally said, "All right, how about this: next year, we'll come back to the house but with many more people than just the two of us. The more people there are the better protection we may have from any possible spirit that comes out way. Will you be okay with that?"

He thought about that for a moment, and then nodded in consent. "I should be able to handle that."

So, diary, next year I'm going to go to that house again and find out what in the world is going on in there every anniversary of the deaths. And I promise you, diary, even if my friend tries to get out of it by playing sick or moving somewhere like America or Japan, he and whatever other people he brings will come with me, no matter what.

I shall hold him to it.

Rose


	2. Chapter One: Off to England

Chapter One: Off to England

_Present day, Domino High School in Japan…_

The school day had just ended at Domino High. The six heroes were starting to collect up their things and, since they didn't have cleaning duty, preparing to go home.

Joey stretched and let out a loud, rather fake yawn. "Five days of notin but school, homework, an sheer boredom. I'm _definitely_ ready for dis weekend."

"I hear ya, man," Tristan agreed. "I'm ready to just go home and crash."

Yugi didn't chime in to their conversation. He had noticed how all day Bakura had been looking extremely worried. He kept pulling a note out of his backpack, glancing at it wide-eyed, and then quickly putting it away. And once, when the teacher had called on him, he'd jumped a few feet into the air and yelped out in shock.

Now, Bakura had put his stuff into his backpack but the note had been pulled out once more. He kept staring at it with a fearful look in his eyes.

He was staring so intently that he didn't notice Yugi walk up to him and tap him on the shoulder. "Bakura?"

Bakura yelped, whipped around and suddenly fired out a stream of grey magic. Yugi quickly raised a hand and let his invisible force field absorb the blast.

The others stared at the sight. "Uh, Bakura…is everyting okay?" Joey asked.

Bakura's face turned a little red. "Oh, uh, yes…well, no…" He glanced down at the ground for a few moments, then looked back up and asked, "Guys…would you be willing, by any chance, to accompany me to England tomorrow morning?"

"You're going out to England?" Tristan said. "Why?"

Bakura pressed his two index fingers together. "Well…" He thought intently about something for a moment. Finally he nodded to himself and asked them: "Do you all believe in ghosts?"

The others stared at him. Yugi finally replied, "Well, considering all of the magical creatures that we've seen and that both you and I have been made vessels for spirits, I'd have to say yes."

"Ghosts?" Kaiba said in disbelief. "Don't start creating more fairy tale junk for yourself-there's no such thing as ghosts."

Joey rolled his eyes at him. "Right-just like dere was no such ting as magic."

Kaiba just scowled.

"Why are you asking, Bakura?" Yugi said.

"Well…" He looked back down at the sheet of paper in his hands. "Last year, long before I moved here, one of my friends and I went to explore this abandoned home formerly known as Marsden Manor and…the two of us saw certain…things which she was convinced were the works of spirits."

"Like what?"

"Lights that flickered upstairs in a window, a door opening all on its own, violin music playing, and…" He paused. "An actual ghost."

"A…real ghost?" Téa asked, looking a little bit freaked out.

He nodded. "It was a woman who suddenly came out of nowhere. She wore clothing that was not of this century, we could see right through her to the other side of the wall…and she was floating above the ground."

The others gasped-except for Kaiba, who just rolled his eyes. "Oh, please-all of that has logical explanations. The lights, the door, the music-all probably just the work of a couple of kids trying to scare you two."

Joey folded his arms and glared at Kaiba. "Yeah? So how do you explain de spirit, den?"

"A holographic projection of a girl in old clothing," he replied matter-of-factly. "It's a simple item to create."

"Only for a rich, bratty genius like you," Joey muttered.

"Anyway," Bakura continued, "the two of us fled that place right after we saw the spirit. Once we'd gotten away morning had arrived, and since the ghosts are only supposed to come one particular night every year, we didn't have a chance at that time to go back and explore further. But she promised that next year, the two of us would have to return to that place and find out what in the world happened. I only agreed to it because she said we could come with many more people and, besides, I was certain that by next year she'd have forgotten all about it."

He looked back down at the paper in his hands. "This morning, though…I got an e-mail from her. She said that it was time for us to go back to that place, and that she expected me and anyone else who wanted to see the place from my new home at the manor tomorrow by eight o'clock-six in the morning here." He winced. "I should have known that she wouldn't forget…she's absolutely obsessed with anything that has to do with the paranormal."

He looked back up at the others and asked sheepishly, "So…I was wondering if perhaps you guys would be willing to fly with me over to England tomorrow morning and accompany me and my friend as we explore the manor more thoroughly?"

Yugi, being the ever loyal friend, replied, "Sure, Bakura, if it'll help you feel better."

"Ey, dat place can't be any more scary dan anyting else we've seen as heroes," Joey shrugged.

"Amen to that," Tristan agreed.

Téa looked a little hesitant, but she finally nodded as well. "I'll come too, I guess," she murmured.

Kaiba almost immediately flat-out refused. "Like I want to go and spend a night in England ghost-hunting," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I tought dere was no such ting as ghosts, Kaiba," Joey grinned at him.

"There isn't."

"So den why are you gonna stay away from dat place?"

"Because I have much better things to do with my time!"

"What-you've got an opportunity to prove dat some magical ting is just a prank and you're just gonna let it slide right by?"

Kaiba paused. He'd never say so out loud, but the mutt did have a point…and, besides, like there was really anything over there that was going to harm him. He finally relented, "Fine, I'll come-but only to prove for once that some 'magical' item is just a figment of imagination."

Bakura let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you all so much," he said, smiling. He walked over to the door of the classroom and held it open so that the others could exit. "I'll meet all of you at the warehouse tomorrow morning-it'd be faster if we flew there in our pure magic forms."

"We'll be dere, man," Joey said, giving him a thumbs-up as he left.

"See ya tomorrow," Tristan added.

As Yugi exited, he heard the Pharaoh speak in his mind. _Yugi…I think perhaps tomorrow we should exercise great caution._

_Oh? How come?_

_I'm not certain why…but for some reason, I sense that there's some sort of darkness residing at that place…and it won't be too enthralled at us coming…_


	3. Chapter Two: The Manor

Chapter Two: The Manor

The next day, once the six heroes had met up at the warehouse, they transformed into their pure magic forms and soared off in the direction of England. A few reports came the next day about people in Asia and Europe supposedly seeing streams of blue, green, orange, pink, grey, and white light flying throughout the sky, but most people brushed it off as either a figment of imagination or just some UFOs.

Finally, at eight o'clock at night in England, the six found themselves flying over a wooded area. The other five showers of magic followed the grey one as it flew around the top of the forest for a few minutes, appearing to be searching for something, and then finally swooped down into the trees.

The six showers soared down to the ground and landed in a small, well-hidden clearing. They stood behind an old, forlorn manor. Once the two-story home must have been enchantingly elegant, but after having been abandoned long ago, the place just looked eerie. It was made of grey, weathered stone which was slowly crumbling onto the ground. The windows with black shutters had all long ago been shattered by pranksters, and the black shingles were slowly falling off of the roof. The creepiness of the place was enhanced by the darkness of the forest surrounding it, with only a few rays of moonlight shining through the thick trees.

The showers transformed back into the human teens that they really were. They stared up at the former Marsden Manor.

"Well, dis place is…creepy," Joey said.

"If there are ghosts in this world, they're definitely going to hang out here," Tristan added.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "There aren't, and they're not. Now can we please just get this over with?"

The six walked around to the front of the house. Sitting on the grey stone stairs that led up to the large, black doors was a pretty curly-haired brunette with blue eyes. She wore a sleeveless black turtleneck, a red mini-skirt, and knee-high black boots. A black backpack was slung over her shoulder.

She had been gazing down at a black scrapbook in her hands, but now she looked up as the six came around the side of the house. Her blue eyes lit up with delight. She snapped the book shut, jumped up, and ran over to Bakura. "You're here!" she said happily with a thick British accent. "So lovely that you could make it!" She looked around at the others. "And I see you've brought some company along."

Bakura looked back at the others. "Guys, this is Rose," Bakura said, "one of my former friends from around here. Rose, this is Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Kaiba."

"It's nice to meet all of you," Rose nodded to them. "You're all ready to perhaps meet up with a few spirits, I hope."

Kaiba snorted. "Yeah, right."

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, so you don't believe in the paranormal, huh?" She waved a finger at him. "You might want to be care-ful. The spirits especially like to come at those who don't believe in them."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I'm not all that worried about some ghost jumping out at me."

Rose shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said. She looked back at Bakura. "Now then, I've been doing intense research on this place for the past year, trying to find out why we saw what we saw on that night. Why don't we all come inside and I'll show you guys around and tell you about what I found."

She and the six heroes walked up to the house. Rose slowly pushed the door open. She looked back at Bakura and smiled. "No one greeting us at the door today, I'm afraid," she laughed.

"What a shame," he said, trying to keep a smile on his face.

The teens walked in and gazed around the place. The inside was just as badly mangled as the outside. Furniture in a room on the side had been covered up with white cloths, making them look as though they were ghosts themselves. A fireplace stood in the back with an old clock on its mantel that had stopped working a long time ago, and hung above it was an antique sword with a rusted silver handle. A stairway in front of them looked as though it would collapse if someone stepped on it, and cobwebs were strung along the banister and railings. The entirety of the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust.

Téa gave a small shiver. "It's so cold in here…" she said.

Rose grinned. "That's usually what happens when a ghost is around. I do believe this means we're definitely going to see some spirits tonight."

"Oh, uh…how wonderful…" Téa said. She gave another shiver; this one, however, wasn't from the chill in the house.

"First things first," Rose said. She showed the others her scrapbook. "In here is all of the information which I've collected about this place over the year. Now then, let me tell you about the people who originally lived here."

Before she could open it, however, Bakura suddenly let out a cry.

The others turned and saw that he was clutching at his head in agony. "Bakura, what's wrong?" Yugi asked.

Bakura slowly opened his eyes. He gazed around the room at the side and slowly stepped into it. "I…I don't know why, but I suddenly saw an image of this place when it was new…it was as though I was sitting in…this chair right here." He indicated one of the white-sheeted items on the left. "And there were these two other people in the room…a man standing right here…" He pointed in front of the fireplace. "…and a girl sitting right here." He pointed at the white-sheeted item on the right.

Rose stared at him in shock. "Bakura…did they look like this?" She opened up her scrapbook and pointed at an old portrait of a man standing by two girls, one in her twenties and the other in her teens, all of whom were dressed in elegant clothing of the early nineteenth century.

"Yes! That's them!" he cried out, pointing at the man and younger girl.

"Hmm…interesting…" Rose murmured. "The man in this painting is Lord Marsden, the original owner of this place, and these are his two girls Scarlett and Violet. He'd moved here because he was hoping that Scarlett, the elder daughter, would marry another wealthy man who lived nearby in a long-gone manor named Edward Carrington." She pointed at another portrait of a wealthy-looking young man who would have been handsome except for the rather sly and smug look in his eyes. "He wasn't exactly a very charming young man unless he acted like it. Scarlett saw through the act, however, and took an almost immediate disliking for him. Instead, she apparently fell for one of his servants."

Bakura suddenly cried out again, and his hands clutched at his head. He winced a little in pain.

The others stared at him. "Bakura, are you all right?" Yugi asked.

Bakura slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes again. "Yes…it's just…I saw a girl's hand holding two sketches in my head…one looked like that older girl in the painting, and the other of a rose."

Rose stared at him with wide eyes. She turned the page of her scrapbook and showed it to the others, revealing two copies of ancient sketches which had been placed inside-one evidently of Scarlett, and the other of a rose.

"The servant, whoever he was, drew these sketches for Scarlett…they were tokens of his affection…" she breathed out.

Bakura stared in shock at the sketches. "They're the ones I saw…" he said.

Rose stared at the drawings for a moment, deep in thought. Finally she snapped the scrapbook shut. "C'mon, Bakura, let's go back here into this room," she said, taking his hand and pulling him past the stairway towards a door in the back. The others followed behind them, a bit perplexed by what was happening

"Which room is that?" he asked.

Rose smiled at him. "I'm actually not going to tell you," she replied.

"What? Why?"

"I think something quite special is going on here," Rose said, "and I want to test you just to make sure my guess is right…"


	4. Chapter Three: Medium

Chapter Three: Medium

Rose pushed open the door in the back and led the six teens into what apparently had once been an elegant ballroom. The walls, now dulled from the centuries past, had once been shining with gold leaf, and the floors were again caked in thick dust. Crystal chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, with a few of their gems sitting shattered on the floor below them.

"Now tell me, Bakura," Rose said, "do you get any other sense of somebody-or some bodies, perhaps-that had once been in here?"

Bakura looked over at her with question marks in his eyes. She didn't respond, however; she just continued staring at him with a small grin on her face.

The others watched as Bakura stepped forward and into the center of the ballroom. He looked around at the place for a moment. "Well…I get a small sense that once upon a time this room was used to host parties and such…but almost anyone could see tha-"

He suddenly clutched at his head again and winced. Somewhere in his mind, he could see the ballroom as it had looked centuries before, shining and elegant, with various people dressed in old clothing and wearing elaborate masks over their faces dancing around the room to a tune played by a chorus of violins.

The image slowly faded away, and Bakura found the strength to open his eyes again. He turned and looked at the other six behind him and said in a soft voice, "I just saw many people in this room…not in its present state, I mean, but back when it was almost new…and it looked like they were in the midst of a…masquerade, I believe it's called?"

Rose grinned from ear to ear. She opened up her scrapbook again and revealed a written-down copy of an ancient newspaper article with the headline, **Tragedy at Marsden Manor**. "It says here in this article, Bakura, that on the night Scarlett was killed, her father was hosting a masquerade ball in this very ballroom. And I believe you just saw some of the guests from that night enjoying the festivities."

Bakura was extremely confused. Not even his psychic abilities were supposed to act like this…the visions he was having were different…as though they were memories somebody had from the past… "Rose, what's going on?" he asked.

"Hold on for a few more minutes, Bakura," Rose replied. "There's one more room which I want you to see."

She pulled him out of the ballroom and back towards the staircase, with the others following behind them in confusion and awe.

* * *

Rose had led the six of them up the stairway and into what appeared to be an upstairs parlor room. Once again the place was dust covered and filled with furniture protected by faded white sheets. 

When Bakura entered the place, he was suddenly filled with a feeling of horrific sickness. He got down onto his knees and clutched at his stomach, letting out nasty retching noises.

Yugi and Téa knelt down beside him. "Bakura, what's wrong?" Yugi cried out with a concerned look on his face.

"Is everything okay?" Téa asked.

Bakura murmured, "No…for some reason…this terrible feeling is passing through me…like my entire body is becoming weak…the life is being sucked out of me…" Slowly, he got himself back onto his feet, with Yugi and Téa taking one of his arms each and assisting him. "It's like…I'm being poisoned…"

Rose nodded. "Exactly," she said. "That's what happened to Scarlett. She was poisoned by the one she loved."

The others turned and stared at her. "The servant killed her?" Yugi asked.

Rose nodded. "That's what the article said. In this very upstairs parlor, Rose secretly met with him during the masquerade. He'd managed to sneak inside by putting on a copy of the costume which Edward had made for that night." She closed her eyes and lowered her head in sorrow. "Apparently he'd tricked her by getting her to drink a glass of wine which he'd filled with a vial of poison. They found him kneeling over her with the vial in his hand. Edward was so angered by his actions that he stabbed the servant to death with a dagger he held in his pocket." She looked back up at the others. "Now, supposedly, both Scarlett and the servant's spirits rise up during the night of the anniversary of their deaths and haunt anyone who dares to come near the place. Whether or not they have chosen to love each other in their afterlife is unknown, considering what the servant did to Scarlett."

"That's so sad," Téa murmured.

"Man, love really does make people do crazy tings," Joey added.

Bakura suddenly winced again and dropped onto his knees, dragging Yugi and Téa to the floor with him. Another image went flashing through his mind; this one was of a man standing in the middle of the parlor room at night. He wore a nineteenth century blue jacket with tails, white vest, blue pants, and black shoes. A tri-cornered hat was perched on his head, and a dark mask covered up his face. He was holding out a wine glass to an outstretched female hand.

The hand was about to take the glass when it suddenly paused. The image became focused on the man's eyes, a deep shade of dark brown.

Bakura suddenly felt the emotions of horror, shock, and fear shoot right through him. The outstretched hand tried to shove the wine glass away, but the man suddenly grabbed the wrist with his free hand and yanked the person forward. The person shoved the wine glass into the woman's face, and Bakura felt nasty liquid trickle down his-the girl's-throat.

The image faded away, and Bakura slowly opened his eyes. He stared into the concerned faces of all his friends (except Kaiba, who looked completely indifferent).

Bakura stared straight at Rose. "You're wrong," he said to her.

Rose blinked. "Wrong? About what?"

Bakura slowly stood up with Yugi and Téa's assistance again. "The servant didn't kill Scarlett. It was someone else simply pretending to be him…someone who wanted her dead because of her love…someone she hated with all of her heart…someone like-"

All of a sudden, a loud _bang_ noise came from downstairs.

"What was dat?" Joey asked.

The teens quickly dashed out of the room and back downstairs. There, they saw that the door to the manor, which they had accidentally left open, had been firmly shut.

Joey tried to open the door by the handle, but upon turning it, he discovered: "Ey! Dis door's been locked!"

He and Tristan then tried using the entirety of their weight to push the door open, but it still held fast.

Suddenly, an echoing, whispering voice was heard throughout the manor: _"Your efforts are futile, you foolish humans…"_

The teens looked around, trying to figure out who was speaking and from where. "Who are you?" Yugi cried out.

The voice didn't reply to his question; it simply continued: _"You know too much…and now, you shall not leave this place alive…"_

The teens crowded in close together, preparing for whatever was about to be thrown their way. "Know too much? What de heck is he talkin' about?!" Joey cried.

"I believe he's referring to what Bakura just said," Rose deduced. "I think he found out a little too much about the murder of Scarlett with his ability."

The others stared at her. "My ability?" Bakura asked.

Rose nodded. "Bakura, my friend," she said, "I believe you are a medium."


	5. Chapter Four: Spirit Attack

Chapter Four: Spirit Attack

Bakura blinked. "A medium?" he repeated.

"You know, someone that can communicate with ghosts?" Rose added. "I believe that's what was happening in those different rooms-the spirit of Scarlett, wherever she may be, was sending you images of the past, telling you about herself, her family, her love…and the night that she was killed."

Bakura was a little freaked out. _I've already been rid of one spirit communicating with me, and now others will come through my new special ability? Why me?_ he thought in anguish.

"Oh, please!" Kaiba yelled out in exasperation. "Everyone knows that so-called 'mediums' are just people who scam others into thinking they talk with the dead to get money. They can't talk with ghosts because _there's no such thing as ghosts_."

Suddenly, the teens heard a loud chiming noise coming from the room next door. They turned and saw the old clock had its hands turned to midnight, and it was now chiming out the twelve chimes of the witching hour.

"Uh…how de heck is dat ting working?" Joey asked.

"Oh, dear…" Rose said. "It must be the work of the malevolent spirit here."

_"There is no spirit here!"_ Kaiba yelled out.

As if in retaliation, the sword above the clock suddenly ripped off of its place on the wall and turned its blade so that it directly faced the teens.

"You were sayin'?" Joey told Kaiba.

The sword suddenly flung itself at them. Lightning fast, however, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed and the Pharaoh took over; he quickly raised one hand and set up a force field which the sword bounced off of and hit the floor.

Rose stared at the field in shock. "What the…" she cried.

Bakura looked at his stunned friend. "Um, Rose," he said sheepishly, "can you keep a secret?"

The sword picked itself up from the ground again and started slashing in desperation at the force field.

Joey rose up one arm and let it transform into a silver, blade-like object. "Let de field down, man," he told the Pharaoh, "dis ting is mine."

When the sword raised itself up to strike again, the Pharaoh let the force field vanish. As it turned to slash down, Joey blocked it with his own 'blade' and the two commenced in a sword fight.

As they battled, a loud _crash _suddenly came from the direction of the ballroom. "What was that?" Téa asked, shivering in fright.

"You guys check it out," Joey said as he ducked and narrowly avoided being sliced by the ghost-wielded sword. "I'll deal wit dis spook here."

The others turned and ran back into the ballroom. There, they discovered that one of the chandeliers had fallen down onto the floor, sending shards of crystal out everywhere.

As the teens walked towards the chandelier, the ballroom door slammed shut behind them. They whipped around to see their only means of exiting firmly locked.

"Not good," Tristan said.

Suddenly, the chandelier's shattered crystals picked themselves off of the floor and hovered in midair while the other intact ones ripped right off and pointed their sharp ends at the teens. Then, in one quick movement, the crystals shot out at the teens.

A freaked-out Téa let out a horrified scream. Unintentionally, the scream turned into an ear-splitting banshee cry which shattered the crystals into thousands of little pieces and sent them back down onto the ground.

Rose stared in absolute shock at the crystal pieces. "Oh my…" she whispered.

A sort of snapping noise came from above. The teens looked up to see that the crystals of the other chandeliers were ripping themselves right off of their places and spiraling down towards the teens.

Tristan rose up his arms and yelled out, "Regeneration, don't fail me now!"

Dozens of hands suddenly appeared out of thin air and caught most of the crystals right before they hit the teens. While most of the hands were able to fling the crystals down and send them smashing onto the ground before the heroes, a few wrenched themselves out of the grasp; those that did, however, ending up smashing right into another force field the Pharaoh created.

Rose stared at the shattered crystals on the ground. Extreme excitement filled her up. "This is incredible!" she cried out, jumping up and down in delight. "You're like those superheroes one reads about!"

Bakura nodded. "Yes, but like most of them, our powers need to remain a secret, Rose," he said.

"No need to worry," Rose assured him. "Your secret shall be safe with me."

Bakura nodded, then turned and fired a grey stream of magic directly at the door, smashing a hole right through it. The teens ran out into the hallway; however, before Kaiba could exit the room, he suddenly heard a strange voice whisper his name into his ear.

Kaiba turned around and came face-to-face with a see-through man. The guy wore a blue jacket, white shirt, blue pants and black shoes, all of which were of the nineteenth century, with a tri-cornered hat perched on his head and a dark mask covering up his face.

"Oh look, a ghost," he said, folding his arms and rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry, but if you want me to scream out in terror, it's not going to happen."

The ghost replied with a nasty grin on his face. Suddenly, it transformed into an orb of what looked like grey smoke and, without warning, shot itself directly into Kaiba's chest.

Kaiba's eyes suddenly became glazed over, and a nasty grin appeared on his face. "Your terror wasn't necessary, you foolish human," he spoke in what sounded like his own voice and the voice that had spoken to the teens at the door talking at once. He held out his hand, and a dagger with a pentagram carved into its blade appeared within it. "Only your body…so I could complete my task…"

* * *

Meanwhile, the others discovered that Joey had managed to defeat the blade and now crushed it underneath a transformed diamond foot. "And stay down!" he yelled out, pointing at the blade.

"Okay, I really hope that's the last we'll see of any ghosts today," Téa said, "because I can't take any more of them."

Joey suddenly stared up at something behind her. "Den I suggest you don't turn around," he said.

Everyone did. They saw that floating at the top of the stairs was a ghostly girl with curly chestnut brown hair piled on top of her head wearing a nineteenth-century blue ball gown and an elaborate blue mask on her face which highlighted her blue eyes.

Téa let out a scream, but Bakura suddenly stopped her. "No, Téa, it's okay," he assured her. "She doesn't want to harm us."

"How would you know?" Téa cried.

Bakura paused. "She told me so," he said.

The others stared at him. "She didn't say anything," Tristan said.

Bakura looked up at the spirit. "Not out loud…" he murmured. "In my head…like she could speak with me that way…"

"Perhaps all spirits can have some form of telepathic communication with those connected to them," the Pharaoh suggested. "So mediums especially could hear their thoughts."

Although he was a little bit afraid still, Bakura found the courage to speak with the girl. "Miss," he said, "my friends aren't…mediums, such as myself. Do you have, by chance, some way you could communicate with them as well?"

The girl stared at him for a few moments. Suddenly, she transformed into an orb of smoke-like stuff and shot down directly into Bakura's chest.

"Bakura!" everyone cried out.

Bakura turned around and faced his friends. His eyes had suddenly gotten a glazed-over look. "It's all right," he spoke in what sounded like his voice and a dainty, feminine voice speaking at once. "I shall only occupy him as long as is necessary."

Rose stared at him. "Who are you?" she asked.

Bakura smiled. "I'm Scarlett Marsden," he/she spoke.


	6. Chapter Five: Possessed

Chapter Five: Possessed

"You're Scarlett?" Rose cried out. She squealed with delight. "How exciting-we're actually talking with a spirit!"

"Miss Scarlett," the Pharaoh said, "please tell us: is it true that you were not killed by the servant whom you fell in love with?"

Bakura/Scarlett nodded. "That's exactly what I conveyed to this young man in the upstairs parlor," she said.

"So you were the one sending him those images all this time," the Pharaoh concluded.

"Exactly," Bakura/Scarlett said. "I've always wanted the truth to be known, and when this mediumistic young man came along, I jumped at the opportunity. It's true that on that night William-my love-snuck into the masquerade party wearing a copy of the outfit Edward had worn, and that he and I had arranged to meet in our upstairs parlor…but when I got there, I knew it wasn't William in that room…it was Edward. I could tell by his eyes…William's were a deep blue, but the eyes that stared at me through the mask were Edward's dark brown…somehow he'd found out about our arranged meeting and had come to stop us once and for all…" Bakura/Scarlett shut his/her eyes. "He forced me to drink the poison…and then…my spirit sort of floated out of my body…I didn't realize I was dead until I looked down and saw myself lying on the floor." Bakura/Scarlett looked back up. "I watched as Edward placed the wine glass into my hand and a vial of poison right next to it. Then he left."

Tears appeared in Bakura/Scarlett's eyes. "A little bit later, William came in and found my body lying on the floor. He went over and tried to awaken me, but it didn't take long for him to realize that I was gone. He picked up the vial of poison right at the moment that my father, Edward, and other people from the party came looking for me." He/she snarled. "I watched as Edward pretended to be angry that William had 'killed' me and stabbed him in 'revenge'."

"Wait a sec," Joey said. "If dis William guy was killed here, too, den how come his spirit isn't witcha?"

Bakura/Scarlett looked down at the ground. "Edward apparently had been dabbling in the dark arts…he stabbed William with some sort of enchanted blade that could take the souls right out of their bodies and entrap them within it…and I know that he's been stuck there ever since."

"How is that?" the Pharaoh asked.

Bakura/Scarlett glared. "When Edward died some odd years later…instead of going to where it should have been, his spirit chose to come here and brought the dagger with him. Ever since then, on the night when I'm allowed to return to the world of the living, he would torment me by deliberately avoiding me and preventing me from getting my hands on that dagger…so that I could perhaps set William's spirit free."

"So he's the one who locked us in here and started attacking us!" Rose cried.

Bakura/Scarlett nodded. "Edward would further torture me by preventing me from ever telling anyone the truth about my death. He'd do everything that he could to scare any curious explorers out of the house…and if that didn't work…then he'd destroy them…"

"Wait…don't tell me there are more ghosts around here!" Téa cried out.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I'm afraid there are," Bakura/Scarlett replied. "They just haven't appeared because Edward has captured all of them in his dagger. He's not letting anyone leave here, even if they're dead."

"That's madness," the Pharaoh cried. "Those spirits should be allowed to go to their final resting place!"

"Exactly," Bakura/Scarlett agreed. "Thus, I'm going to ask if you gifted youth would please find Edward, get that dagger, and put an end to this nonsense once and for all."

Joey looked around. "Hey Kaiba, where's your 'we won't help because dere's no such ting as ghosts' remark?" he commented.

Suddenly, the others realized that Kaiba wasn't with them. "Wait…where is Kaiba?" Tristan asked.

As if on cue, Kaiba came from the direction of the ballroom and stood a little bit away from the teens, with one of his hands concealed behind his back. "Kaiba, what are you doin' back dere?" Joey asked. He suddenly grinned. "Were ya stayin' back dere because you were scared of de ghost?"

Kaiba gave a small sneer. "I'm not Kaiba, you fool," he spoke in what sounded like two voices, "and I fear no ghost…since I am one."

Suddenly, he brought his hand out from behind his back, revealing a dagger with a pentagram on the blade that he hurled at the group. They quickly ducked, and the dagger slammed into the wall. The possessed Kaiba then held out his hand and sent out a stream of electricity which wrapped itself around the dagger's handle and pulled it back to his hand.

Bakura/Scarlett directly faced Kaiba with a livid look in his/her eyes. "Edward!" he/she yelled out. "Let that boy go!"

"Mmm, no," Kaiba/Edward replied. "I rather like this body. The young man is rich, powerful…and easy to possess, since he firmly believes 'ghosts don't exist'." He let out a loud, cruel laugh.

"See? Just like I said-spirits love to get those who don't believe!" Rose cried.

"Oh, I don't know if that's quite true," Kaiba/Edward shrugged. "We may also like to get at those who not only believe in us, but communicate with us." He snarled nastily at Bakura/Scarlett. "You, for example, are never getting out of here, dead or alive." His outline crackled with electricity. "I shall make sure of it."


	7. Chapter Six: Ectoplasmic

Chapter Six: Ectoplasmic

Bakura/Scarlett glared at Kaiba/Edward. "These are not ordinary humans, Edward-they have powers beyond even your comprehension, and I assure you that they shall use them to send you where a fool like you belongs!"

"Over my dead body!" he snarled back.

"Dude, you're already dead," Joey commented.

"SHUT UP!" He sent out a stream of electricity at Joey. Lightning fast, however, the Pharaoh shot out a force field with absorbed the blast.

Angrily, Joey's outline glowed with green magic. "I am so goin' ta savor dis!" he yelled out, preparing to fire a green stream out at him.

"Joey, hold on!" the Pharaoh yelled. "You cannot attack him-you'd just hurt Kaiba as well!"

Joey stared at him. "What's your point?"

With them distracted, Kaiba/Edward took the opportunity to fire out a stream of white magic at them. The magic wrapped itself around the teens and bound them together firmly. They struggled to get free, but it seemed the more they squirmed, the tighter the magic became.

Kaiba/Edward grinned and walked towards the group, the dagger's blade glittering in his hand. "Yes, Scarlett, these children have gifts which are oh so frightful," he sneered at Bakura/Scarlett. "They're able to smash swords and destroy a couple of crystals-but what can they do against one of their poor, possessed little friends?" He stopped right in front of the group. "Perhaps you'll have a chance to reflect upon that once you're trapped for all eternity."

He raised the dagger above his head and prepared to strike-

-when suddenly a smoky orb shot out of Bakura and smashed through Kaiba's chest.

The teens watched as two smoky orbs shot directly out of Kaiba's back and went flying into a wall. Kaiba collapsed onto the floor, out cold.

The two orbs transformed to reveal Scarlett pinning Edward up against the wall.

"Are they sayin' someting, man?" Joey asked Bakura.

Bakura focused intently on them. "Well, Scarlett is yelling to Edward, 'This is enough! No more trapped spirits, no more haunting this place-all of this madness shall end here and now'!"

Edward grinned nastily at her. Bakura's eyes narrowed and he said, "Edward just replied, 'And what exactly are you and your pathetic allies going to do about it?'"

Kaiba slowly stirred and awoke to find himself lying on the ground, with the others standing before him and, strangely enough, bound by what appeared to be his own magic. He stared up at the others and asked, "Where are we and why in the world are you guys tied up with my powers?"

" 'Cause one of dose 'nonexistent' ghosts possessed ya and wrapped us up in it!" Joey shot back at him.

Kaiba suddenly recalled the spirit-like being shooting itself inside of him…and then he'd sort of passed out until this moment. He stood up and prepared to snap his fingers when he realized there was some sort of dagger clutched in his hand. "Where did this come from?" he asked.

Edward realized at that moment that the dagger had remained with Kaiba when Scarlett had forced him outside of his body. He screamed out silently in horror and tried to free himself from Scarlett's grasp, but she held onto him fast. Scarlett turned and looked at Bakura, apparently sending him some sort of telepathic message.

Bakura cried, "Kaiba, hurry-give me that dagger!"

Confused but wanting the insanity to end, Kaiba snapped the white magic away with his free hand and gave Bakura the dagger.

Bakura stared down at it in sorrow. "I can hear the spirits in here…the poor things just want to go to the afterlife…but they're trapped…"

"So, uh…how do we let dem out?" Joey asked.

Rose stared down at the dagger, deep in thought. Suddenly she cried, "Oh! I have an idea!"

The others turned to her. Rose explained to Bakura, "Mediums are supposed to be able to generate a sort of spiritual energy called 'ectoplasm' which allows ghosts to take on more physical, powerful forms. Bakura, if you could somehow tap into this energy, perhaps you could pass it onto the ghosts in there and give them enough strength to set them free!"

Bakura blinked. "But…I have no idea how to do so!"

"You must try, Bakura," the Pharaoh insisted.

"An hurry, man!" Joey cried, seeing that Scarlett was slowly starting to lose her grip on Edward.

Bakura shut his eyes and tried to focus on the dagger. He heard the spirits' voices screaming in his mind, begging to be let out. _Come now, medium powers…if you truly exist…for goodness' sake, show yourself!_

Suddenly, a grey, gauze-like substance surrounded the outline of his being. Slowly, he felt the substance shoot out towards the dagger and envelope itself within it. After a few moments, the dagger smashed open and dozens of small, smoky orbs appeared in front of the teens, all of which were enveloped in the gauze-like stuff.

"NO!" Edward mouthed angrily.

Bakura smiled sweetly at him. "Yes," he replied. He pointed out at Edward and screamed to the orbs, "Take him to where he belongs!"

Scarlett quickly floated upwards and away while the smoky orbs shot out at Edward. He screamed as ghost-like hands appeared from the orbs and started yanking him down into the ground.

Bakura shook his head. "Edward just yelled, 'YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!'"

"Oh, go to the devil, you disgusting spook," Rose replied.

Edward let out one last silent yell of horror as he vanished down into the ground, going to the place (wherever it was) that the evil spirits belonged.


	8. Chapter Seven: Together At Last

Chapter Seven: Together at Last

Everyone stared down at the spot in the floor where Edward had vanished. After a few moments, the other spirit orbs returned and started floating up through the ceiling. Bakura heard mirthful laughter and grateful 'thank you's coming from the orbs.

"Where are they going?" Téa asked.

"Where all spirits go once their time is up and they are free to leave," Bakura replied. "And for that, they give us their deepest thanks."

Finally, only one orb of smoke remained in the place. Instead of floating through the ceiling, however, it floated up to Scarlett. The teens watched as the orb became another young man dressed similarly to Edward; the difference, however, was this spirit had deep blue eyes peering out from behind his mask.

Scarlett silently gasped with delight and covered her mouth with her hand.

"That's William," Bakura smiled.

William looked down at the ground. Bakura explained, "William just said, 'I'm so sorry…perhaps if I had come sooner, I could have stopped Edward and none of this would have happened…'"

Scarlett shook her head. "Her reply is: 'No, William, don't even start to think about that. It's over now. We're together at last.'"

William smiled. He gently took Scarlett's hand. "And William finally said: 'I wouldn't want it any other way'."

The heroes watched happily as Scarlett and William embraced and gave each other a kiss. They transformed into grey, smoky orbs which slowly floated up towards the ceiling and vanished through it.

The teens ran outside and watched as the two orbs floated up through the roof of the old manor and into the nighttime sky. They soared up into the bright light of the moon and vanished out of sight.

"Aw, man," Joey said, wiping away a tear from his eye, "Happy endings like dis always make me cry…"

Rose turned and looked at the six teens. "Thank you all so much for coming here," she smiled. "You've finally allowed for Scarlett and William to get out of this blasted place, and now, perhaps, they can be at peace."

Bakura smiled at her. "You're the one I must thank," he replied. "You helped me discover that I even had medium powers in the first place, and all because of your paranormal obsession."

"Yes, well…" Rose looked down at the ground. "There was actually more to it than that…" She blushed.

"More?" Bakura asked.

The others stared at her as well. Upon looking closely at her, the Pharaoh suddenly realized that her curly brown hair and blue eyes were quite similar to a certain someone's…

"Wait a minute…" he said. "You're a descendant of Scarlett, aren't you?"

Rose looked up and nodded. "Yes. Scarlett was my great-great-great-aunt, and her sister, Violet, was my great-great-great-grandmother. I found out that we were related while I was doing that extensive research on her. Once I discovered that she was a part of my family, I knew that I had to do something in order to set her free from her binding to the place." She looked back at her backpack. "There are things like an Ouija board and such in here which I thought I could use to contact her and perhaps help her leave…" She smiled. "But they turned out to be unnecessary, thanks to you and your friends' gifts, Bakura."

"Yes, um…about those gifts…" Bakura said.

Rose shook her head. "I told you before, and I shall tell you again-I'll tell no one about what I've seen tonight. And besides-if I did, I'd probably be seen as completely daft, no offense."

"None taken-we tink dat we're crazy almost twenty-four seven," Joey said.

"You were crazy before you even got these powers," Kaiba said.

The Pharaoh and Tristan had to hold Joey back from choking Kaiba with his bare hands.

"Oh, my," Rose commented as she watched Kaiba smile sweetly at the restrained Joey. She looked up at Bakura. "Does this happen frequently in Japan?"

"Only around my friends," Bakura laughed.

Finally, once Joey had given up, the Pharaoh said, "Well, we should be going home."

"Of course," Rose said. "I do hope you will catch your flight."

"Oh, we didn't use a plane," Joey said. "We got our own ways to travel."

All of the teens but Bakura snapped their fingers and transformed into showers of magic sparks. Rose stared in shock for a moment, then started laughing. "My, you guys are chock-full of surprises," she said to Bakura.

"That's what happens when you've got powers," Bakura said. "So, I guess I should be going, Rose."

"Ta-ta for now, Bakura," Rose said, "and good luck to you and your friends!"

"Thank you, Rose," Bakura smiled. He snapped his fingers and transformed into thousands of grey sparks. They soared up with the others and went off into the nighttime.

Rose smiled after them. "My goodness, special abilities, paranormal powers…Bakura and his friends are all so lucky…a tad bit cursed as well, perhaps, but lucky."


End file.
